Drug Policy in the US

Human Ecosystem & Technological Change Drugs should not be legalized Drug policy in the United States has been on the forefront of polarizing issues in the political spectrum. The United States has been regulating and criminalizing the use of drugs for roughly a century and in the last few generations these efforts have culminated in what has been referred to as a "war" on drugs.

This war has resulted in a large number of American citizens being incarcerated for the involvement in the drug trade or for their own personal drug use. In one report, the Bureau of Justice Statistics estimated that roughly fifty-five percent of federal prisoners are incarcerated due to drug-related crimes and spends about twenty-two billion dollars annually of this effort (Head, N.d.).

Whether you are for, or against, drug criminalization and the war on drugs, one of the factors that makes this such a polarizing debate is the sheer amount of resources that the current system requires. This analysis will briefly introduce both sides of the argument and then conclude that, although drug legalization might have some specific benefits, the overall impact on public health and the society in general would definitely be negative overall.

Discussion The war on drugs has become unpopular with the vast majority of American citizens over the years. So dislike the system because of the enormous amount of resources that it requires, while others may have a friend or relative that has been criminalized for being involved with drugs. Whatever the reasoning may be, it was estimated that over seventy-five percent of the American public view the war on drugs policy as a failure (Head, N.d.).

Although many view the war on drugs as a failure, it does not necessarily follow that drug use should be legalized as an alternative. Yet many argue exactly this case. They point to the fact that drugs have played a role in virtually every advanced civilization that has ever been in existence throughout the course of history. Given the prevalence of drugs in society, there is virtually no chance of regulating or criminalizing the drug problem to the extent that it could represent an effective cure for the situation.

Therefore, some argue that instead of expending a massive amount of public resources to try to combat the problem there exists the opportunity to use the social phenomenon as a way to benefit society; both financially and otherwise. For instance, the Cato Institute has produced a study that estimates that drug legalization would reduce government expenditure about $41.3 billion annually .. about $8.7 billion of the savings would result from legalization of marijuana, $20 billion from legalization of cocaine and heroin, and $12.6 billion from legalization of all other drugs (Miron & Waldock, 2010).

Beyond the initial savings, there would also be indirect savings through the reduction of the prison population and even potential revenue generated through the taxation and regulation of these substances. If the problems related to drug use were simply viewed as a business case, then this type of analysis would surely attract the attention of investors. However, drugs have a plethora of indirect costs that would attributed to their legalization as well.

For example, if the stigma associated with different substances was normalized and the criminalization of drugs ceased in the United States, then the usage rates of many drugs would rise substantially. For example, the Rand Corporation has predicted that the legalization of marijuana in California would result in a usage rate that was double the current rate in the present system which, in turn, might increase various health risks, including increased heart rate, anxiety as well as incidents of drug-impaired driving (Ghosh, 2010).

Studies of marijuana's effects show that the drug can slow decision-making, decrease peripheral vision and impede multitasking, all of which are critical driving skills (Lowy, 2014). Therefore legalization of drugs such as marijuana would almost certainly result in more vehicle related fatalities. Conclusion It is clear that the war on drugs is perceived as a failure by a majority of American citizens. The arguments presented about the current systems ineffectiveness are honestly compelling.

However, at the same time, even if the system is ineffective is does not imply that the legalization of drugs is the appropriate solution to these.